Nonyl alcohols are well known and commonly used to synthesize plasticizers and surface active agents. The most common nonyl alcohol is a totally branched nonyl alcohol known as isononyl alcohol. Isononyl alcohol is most commonly produced by dimerizing butene and performing the oxo hydroformylation reaction as described in Industrial Organic Chemicals; Wittcoff, Harold A., Reuben, Bryan G., and Plotkin, Jeffrey S., Wiley-Interscience, 2004. This alcohol is sold commercially by ExxonMobil Corporation under the trade name Exxal® 9. A second type of nonyl alcohol is produced by performing the oxo hydroformylation reaction on a linear octene. This yields a nonyl alcohol containing between 35 and 65% branched species.
While both types of nonyl alcohol can be used to synthesize useful derivatives like plasticizers and surface active agents, the high degree of branching limits the functionality of these derivatives. There is a need for a nonyl alcohol that can be produced with a lower proportion of branched species.